It's like camping, but with a free breakfast!!! (oh wait nevermind no power)

[slimequest]

So this is the third day in a row that the hotel I work at has been without power. It's pretty awesome. While the rest of the hotel sits in eternal darkness I get to post on LJ about them 8-)

We've got a generator running for the office at least, which explains how I'm able to post this. It's still kind of dumbfounding how people can walk into a barely-lit lobby and be suddenly surprised that there's no electricity when I tell them, though. We're not having a rave, here, these glowsticks are to light things up.

Surprisingly most people were chill about it the first day, but by now most people have checked out. Naturally, many people ask if there's any kind of compensation we'll give them for this "horrendous ordeal", but it's not our fault, you know? You chose to stay here, so either check out or put up. Go yell at the power company or something.

It's actually kind of fun after a while, working sans-power. 99% of my job now is to tell people to go away (or make the situation sound so bad that nobody would ever possibly want to stay here during it), and the rest is me playing DS in the dark. Reminds me of our awesome family vacations in the middle of nowhere in Mexico when I was growing up. I've played SNES hundreds of miles out in the wilderness using a generator, and of course nothing beats playing Gameboy in the "outback". Until it gets dark and you have to use a flashlight... well, you used to have to do that, anyway. One good thing I can say about the old brick, though, is that it was nice to be able to switch out batteries at the first sign of them dying and jump right back into things.

Anyway, I'll be here staring at glowsticks and contemplating what they might taste like if you need me.

Comments

[vanish.livejournal.com]

I do hope your hotel does offer some sort of compensation for the guests who checked in or had made reservations before the power had gone out. It may not be your fault, but it's just good customer service. On average, one unsatisfied customer is going to tell 20 people about it (and probably exaggerate), so when you think about it, you may have a few hundred people who believe that your hotel is the worst place on earth. And that guy at the front desk refused to give them glowsticks, wtf!

[slimequest.livejournal.com]

I can definitely see that side of the situation, but again, if someone is aware that there is a problem beyond our control going on, they have the option of either checking in and being understanding that they won't have any lights or TV, or going to another hotel that does have it. (Which actually, almost every other hotel in the area DID have power.) In some ways it's no different than arriving at the hotel and realizing we don't have [insert amenity here] and then having the same choice, staying regardless or moving on.

It is good customer service to go above and beyond and provide customers with compensation, but I feel far too many people take that idea and run with it. A majority of our guests are corporate types who stay with us long-term, so for them, if they ended up temporarily staying somewhere else I'd definitely want us to compensate them for that cost, at the very least. But a one-night stay could go to any other hotel in the area (we'd call and set up their reservation for them, so all they have to do is drive over there) to avoid dealing with the issue, so I can't see what else they'd really expect, since reducing their rate or something isn't going to make the power come back on any sooner.

99% of people were (surprisingly) understanding and either went to another hotel or put up and dealt with it, and everyone else has the option of talking to management when they're in the office. I think most people realized that complaining wouldn't really help anything, and that we were doing what we could for them, since we were all at the mercy of the power company. But if I were in charge, yeah, I'd do something for the people who complained. I'll have to see what we end up doing for people, since the power came back on at 11PM tonight.

Also you'll drag these glowsticks out of my cold, dead, fluorescent green hands >=o

[sethimothy.livejournal.com]

Why not just bite into the glowstick and find out how it tastes?

Do it.

DO EEEEET.